Comments on: 5 Things My Vacation Can Teach You About the Candidate Experience

By: How to Turn Candidates and Hiring Managers into Raving Fans « LEAN, Just-in-Time Recruiting!

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 11:51:29 +0000

[...] was a Good Post on ERE the other day from Justin Miller. Justin outlined what we can learn from his recent [...]

By: Rajpreet Heir

Rajpreet Heir — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 22:36:47 +0000

Threaten them to walk the plank. Or scrub the poopdeck.

By: Keith Halperin

Keith Halperin — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 22:22:18 +0000

@ Rajpreet. If only there were automated tools to get Management to give a damn….

Cheers,

Keith

By: Rajpreet Heir

Rajpreet Heir — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 22:10:56 +0000

If only they served glasses of champagne in interviews too…that would be a nice candidate experience. It sounds like what stood out to you was the service–your needs were anticipated. I think candidates should also have the sort of treatment. One way to do this is to reply every step of the way, as a courtesy. There are many automated tools that can help.

By: Keith Halperin

Keith Halperin — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 23:22:48 +0000

@ Justin. I was referring to corporate employers, as opposed to 3PRs. It was my experience when I worked for 3PRs was that the higher a fee that the candidates could generate, the nicer the recruiters were to them, and the higher the fee that a client could pay, the more attention was paid to them. Hospitality involves sales but mainly service, and recruiting involves service but is mainly sales- i.e., in hospitality you are delivering a service, but in (3PR) recruiting you’re selling a product.

@ John: ANYBODY who treats you like you are the only person in the world who matters to them is likely to get repeat business, unless you marry them…

Cheers,

By: John Kreiss

John Kreiss — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 19:41:13 +0000

I went on a Royal Caribbean cruise a few years ago, and my experience mirrors Justin. The staff treats you like you are the only person in the world who matters to them.

Recruiters who can do this with candidates and clients should get more repeat business, and placements in my opinion.

By: Justin Miller

Justin Miller — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 19:24:07 +0000

Great points Josh. A job search is a very sensitive for a lot of people, whatever you can do to make it a little easier will go a long way in their eyes.

Keith,
I’m not sure I get your point. If anything that proves my point. Yes, hospitality managers are paid to make sure their guests have a great experience, but my point is it worked with me and now I’m writing a blog post about them. If you can be a staffing firm where people feel they had a uniquely great experience, it could very well generate referrals. I’m not saying it’s something you MUST do as a staffing firm, it will just give you an advantage, in theory.

By: Keith Halperin

Keith Halperin — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:29:28 +0000

Thank you, Justin. You seem to have had a very pleasurable vacation.
If I may, a major distinction:

1) The managers/leaders in the hospitality industry are very concerned about making the customer’s experience as pleasant as possible and hire people to do just that. If they don’t do that, they get in trouble.

2) The managers/leaders in the recruiting industry are almost totally unconcerned about making the candidate’s experience as pleasant as possible and never hire people to do just that. They don’t get in trouble for overseeing the frustration and aggravation of hundreds, thousands, or (for some companies) millions of ordinary unconnected applicants. They aren’t willing to hire either $2.00/hr Virtual Candidate Care Reps or outsourcing the whole CC experience to a company to make sure each and every applicant has a professional if not actually pleasant experience.

Cheers,

Keith

By: Josh Tolan

Josh Tolan — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:13:40 +0000

Interesting post! When you think about vacation you don’t exactly think about hiring great people, but there really are plenty of things you can learn about candidate experience. Personalization is a particularly important one. There are many times job seekers show up for the interview, whether in person or through online video, only to discover the hiring manager or recruiter has no knowledge of their candidacy at all. Take the time to really read up on the candidate before they come in for the interview so you can form a more personal connection and scoop up the talent you need.

By: Irma Davidson

Irma Davidson — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:02:54 +0000

Justin- Great article and thanks for the reminder that the personal touch is sooo important!

By: Brian Kevin Johnston

Brian Kevin Johnston — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 15:00:47 +0000

**Personalization** Is Key! Great points Justin… EnJOYed the read…